Searching for reverse phone lookup services can become confusing. You may begin with a simple internet search, hoping it will immediately appear and you'll have the information you desire with minimal work. Yet what actually comes up is a long list of paid services which vary from less than a buck for one lookup to over fifteen dollars for a long term subscription.

Changing your search to specify free reverse phone lookup reveals even more pay directories sneaking in claims to be free. They sometimes allow you to type in the number free of charge and deliver very useless information such as the city or state, but if you need to obtain the important details like a name or address you will then be prompted to hand over a fee.

Absolutely free reverse phone lookup is not possible at this point. Providers of this information put out great measures and even money to assemble information including unlisted home phone numbers, cellular numbers, and even address histories. These businesses have no use for this information other than to deliver it to you for a nominal fee.

whether you move forward from this point depends on how badly you really desire to find out the person behind that phone number. In the age of identity theft many people won't just pull up the cheapest site and enter their private information. Finding the most trustworthy directories is just as crucial as when you purchase clothing or pocketbooks through the web.

Finding the information you desire isn't very difficult, once you locate a legitimate lookup directory.

There are a growing number of competing services all with different prices and offering different combinations of data. When you simply need to determine the person connected to a particular number calling your home or wish to know exactly who your teenager is talking with in the middle of the night, you may not have the desire to rate different directories.

The quickest solution may be to go with a name that many people have grown up with and use the web-based version of the white pages. There is a sense of security when you use a well known household name that has been trusted for years. You can look up a phone number and get very basic information here without a fee, including whether the number is a cell phone or home line and a map indicating the general location if it is a home or business. You won't get much beyond that, especially if you are researching a cell phone or a residential number that is unpublished.

Be careful at this point because there will be links on these pages that promise more detailed information, including names and residential addresses, for a fee. These are links to other sites, so you no longer necessarily have the familiarity of the white pages website so you should verify the reputation of these services just as with any other. Yellow pages itself is not going to deliver much information beyond a general location; you will need to look elsewhere for more, especially if you wish to know about a cell phone or unlisted number.

The most effective way to find reverse phone lookup websites for basic needs is to go to a proven service with a small one time fee accepted through a secure payment system. If you just want a one time lookup then it is probably not worth the fee to commit to a long term service. Locate one that provides a one time lookup for a low fee, often just a buck or two.

Paying a high charge for small amounts of information or being asked to pay by delivering card numbers through email or other non-secure forms are flashing warnings of a scam.